


Friendly Conversations (with Friendly Ghosts)

by hope27



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Crack, F/M, Friendship, Season/Series 01 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-03
Updated: 2014-10-20
Packaged: 2018-01-03 09:52:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1069058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hope27/pseuds/hope27
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver is surprised to find Tommy perched on the edge of his desk in his office at QC one day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is completely crack!fic. It came to me as I was thinking about Ghost!Tommy and then I was inspired by the Angel/Spike friendship on Angel. So yeah...this is what came from it.
> 
> I truly miss Tommy and I had fun writing this - I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed creating it. 
> 
> Thanks to anthfan and chasethewind for convincing me this was post-worthy. :)
> 
> As always, your feedback is most appreciated!

The first time he appeared in his office, Oliver almost flipped over backwards in his chair as he scrambled away from the desk where Tommy was perched.

Same mischievous grin and wide eyes. One leg swinging beneath his desk as he arched an amused eyebrow.

“Hey buddy,” he’d said like he wasn’t dead. Like he wasn’t some ghost or apparition appearing before him.

“What...how…” he’d shook his head as if trying to knock whatever had fallen out of place back to where it belonged. 

Oliver had seen many things; many strange things after five years away, but this- _this_ was a first and he wondered if he was finally starting to go crazy.

“You’re not crazy,” Tommy had told him instantly as if he could read his mind.

And then he’d added with a sly grin, “I know I thought you were at one point, but you’re not…”

“I don’t understand,” Oliver had looked around, eyes searching and seeing Felicity through the glass windows sitting in her chair, earphones in, singing along to a song only she could hear.

A small smile had tugged at his lips, and Tommy had called him on it right away.

He’d kept appearing to him, not every day, but enough to know he was around. And only in the office - never the club or the mansion.

The day they returned from Russia, he was there again, lounging on one of the couches when Oliver walked back through the door, heart aching a bit from the conversation he’d just had with Felicity.

“You’re an idiot,” Tommy said, and Oliver gritted his teeth at the unexpected visitor.

“Shut up, Tommy,” he replied as he stalked to his desk. “This is how it has to be - there’s no other way.”

He heard his friend sigh, as he sat wearily in the large chair behind his desk.

“You know she had no idea what you were talking about, right?” Tommy asked, clearly not taking Oliver’s hint at letting it go.

“Tommy…” It was his warning voice, but that did nothing to dissuade his apparition of a friend.

“And I’m guess you didn’t mean to say all that - pour out your heart. For never being one for words, you did that quite well. I’m a little impressed.” Tommy smirked, settling in one of the chairs in front of his desk and propping his feet up.

“However, I agree with her,” Tommy added. “You deserve better than that iceberg.”

Oliver scrubbed hands over his face. When he looked up, Tommy had plopped himself down in front of his desk.

“Which was a pretty boneheaded move,” Tommy continued when Oliver said nothing. “Even for you...we’re talking worse than the triplets and then there was the professor’s daughter…”

“Tommy,” Oliver growled, not wanting a walk down memory lane of the all the mistakes he’d made in his life.

“Okay, okay,” Tommy raised his hands in a motion of concession. 

"But you have to know that woman gives Felicity the hardest time. So for you to just go and sleep with her…” Tommy trailed off when Oliver’s eyes grew confused.

“It would have been very effective if she thought you could ever actually have feelings for her,” Tommy finished, and Oliver’s head flew up.

Eyebrows furrowed he watched his friend with interest; waiting for him to explain.

With a stare of disbelief, Tommy’s face dropped. “How did you survive for five years when you’re so oblivious sometimes?”

Oliver narrowed his eyes at his friend, and Tommy raised his hands in defense.

“Okay, okay, I’ll try to use small words,” he said as he started to explain. “That girl - that _woman_ \- who for some reason let you put her in a position way below her intelligence and has stood behind you despite your continued boneheaded moves, is completely unaware of the fact that you could ever look at her the way you look at any other woman.”

Oliver quirked his eyebrow in confusion. “That’s ridiculous…”

“Is it?” Tommy asked. “Have you ever told her how beautiful she is? Thanked her for putting up with your moods? GIven her the slightest clue?”

“It’s complicated,” Oliver ground out, those feelings that he’d just managed to push down rising within him. “I can’t…”

“I know, I know,” Tommy sighed, shaking his head and tilting it back. “Your double life…”

“Being the Arrow,” Oliver started slowly, “Anyone who is close to me is in danger.”

Tommy lifted his head and quirked an eyebrow in his direction. “Which technically means she’s already in danger.”

Oliver’s fingers curled into fists where they rested on his desk. “I’m trying to protect her.”

“From the bad guys or yourself?” Tommy replied easily and Oliver shook his head, knowing that question was coming.

It took him a moment to rein back in his composure before he was able to answer. 

“Both.”

“I don’t think she needs protecting from you. She seems to handle you pretty well despite everything. And she still hasn’t run away regardless of what she knows about you, and she’s not going to.”

Tommy’s words echoed through his head and tugged at the iron-door he’d put his feelings behind to lock them away. 

“Tommy..” he said exasperatedly. “There’s just so much...so much and with the Arrow and everything…”

“Ah, yes, the Arrow...since you brought it up, let’s talk about your reasons for doing this,” Tommy smiled, almost gleefully attaching to another subject seemingly knowing he’d pushed the other as far as he could for now. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m genuinely touched that you are doing this for me - to not be the monster you thought I saw you as, but you are wrong.”

Oliver looked up sharply, his mouth open in surprise.

“I made peace with who you’d become before I died, Oliver,” Tommy said softly. “Because at the end, I could still see my friend. He was right there with me, holding my hand.”

His voice trailed off softly, and Oliver felt a tightness in his chest that had him gasping for air.

“Tommy…” This time his name was said as a plea; seeking some form of absolution.

“You’re not doing this for me. It’s honorable and noble, but you’re doing this because you want to be that man, Oliver,” he stated firmly, his feet landing purposefully on the floor as he leaned forward and held Oliver’s eyes. “You’re doing this because you want to be the man you see in _her_ eyes.”

Oliver’s eyes fell shut as he sucked in a deep breath.

When he opened them, he half-expected Tommy not to be there, but he was, sitting in the same place watching him intently with sad eyes.

He was about to say something when Felicity’s voice rang out and he snapped his eyes to hers.

“Here are the files from accounting,” she said slowly, brows furrowing at him in concern.

“Thank you,” he managed to reply, his voice lower than he would have liked, but she didn’t seem to notice.

Giving him a curt nod, she turned and headed back to her office. Just before she stepped out of the door, she turned back and gave him a knowing look.

“Um...who were you talking to?” she asked, the words tumbling out of her mouth as if she wasn’t sure she’d say them otherwise.

Oliver blinked at her, knowing she’d see through any of his lame cover attempts instantly. Sighing, tried to figure out how to tell her he was having a very in-depth conversation about his feelings and her and life with his dead best friend. The ridiculousness of it all almost had him laughing.

In the end, he could only shake his head at a loss. 

Then, to his surprise, she just smiled - the slight uptick of her bright pink lips that drew a lightness from within his heart. 

“Tell him I say hi,” she said softly and then turned, closing his door behind her.

Oliver sat stunned, watching her as she purposefully crossed to her desk and plopped back into her chair, spinning slightly as she did, to reach for her tablet.

The small smile still clinging to her lips left him speechless. It was Tommy’s laughter that brought him out of his stupor.

Eyes narrowed at his best friend, he waited for an explanation. 

It’s as if he could see the question in his eyes. “No, she can’t see me like you can. But I might have messed with her computers the other day...typed out a message that scared her half to death. I’m pretty sure she thought she was losing it until I told her that you could see me...and then she calmed down for some reason…”

He cleared his throat and looked down as if a puppy being reprimanded. “I then got a long lecture about touching her technology...which ended in a ramble where she threatened my life and then had to backtrack…”

Tommy chuckled softly at the memory and Oliver could only shake his head as a smile formed on his own lips.

“Messing with her computers is dangerous,” he agreed finally, feeling a little of the weight from before lift from his chest at being able to laugh like this with his friend.

“She asked me what I was doing here and told me I could type out that one response and then I wasn’t allowed near her computers,” he finished, raising his hands in mock-surrender. 

Oliver cocked his head to the side then, that same question having risen to his mind on more than one occasion since Tommy had shown back up in his life.

“What…” he cleared his throat. “What are you doing here, Tommy?” he asked softly, the fear clear in his voice.

Tommy gave a small sigh and then leaned forward once more. The corner of his mouth lifting into a sad half-smile.

“You’re not ready to let me go.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the events of 3x02, Tommy visits Oliver again, shedding some light on his relationship with Felicity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I've had people ask if there was ever going to be a second part to this story. Well...here it is. Inspired by Tommy's reappearance in the flashbacks for 3x02 and Oliver's obvious need for his best friend, here is part 2!
> 
> As always, I love to know what you guys think! Thanks for all your support! :)

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting there, the coldness closing in around him. Alone. Again.

But he felt the moment he arrived, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and then there was this rush of familiarity and peace.

“Not much of a party down here…” Came the familiar voice that he’d almost forgotten.

His eyes slipped shut, hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “You’re still here…I thought…”

“You let me go for awhile...but now you’re back here...alone…so here I am...”

The way he said the words let Oliver know his friend knew exactly what he’d done - that he’d denied his heart.

“Tommy…”

“No, don’t Tommy me, not after all this time,” he said, this time closer, and Oliver dropped his head back and looked at the ceiling, emotions far too close to the surface. “You love her.”

“I do.” He wouldn’t deny it. He _couldn’t_.

He ached for her. The second he let the emotions he’d closed off behind that thick door in his heart break through, all he felt was agonizing pain and loss. From Sara...from Felicity...from the way his life seemed to suddenly be crumbling around him. The high he’d been on - the feeling of weightlessness - abruptly falling into a nose-dive that left him picking up the pieces.

“Then why the hell are you sitting down here alone when you know she loves you too,” Tommy said, and Oliver could picture the raised eyebrow, the knowing look.

“Because...I can’t be two people...I get distracted, I lose focus and she could get hurt or die - they all could and I can’t…I can’t lose anyone else, Tommy!” he finally cried, jumping up off the stool and whirling around to find his friend, standing feet from him - this time looking like the last time he’d seen him in Hong Kong. Same tan jacket, same brown pants...same hair...the knife twisted in his chest.

“You can’t lose her…”

Oliver’s eyes slammed shut as the breath whipped out of him, and he braced his hands on the edge of the nearest table.

“No...no…” he whispered, his voice hoarse and the tears he’d held back now tracking down his cheeks.

“Losing Sara was hard enough...but losing her...losing Felicity…” his throat closed up and he could barely breathe - the thought so painful, spikes of fear and pain shooting through him along with the realization that he was already losing her - just in a different way - sank into his heart.

“So you’re pushing her away again?” Tommy finally spoke, his voice lower, quieter and Oliver remembered their last conversation about her after Russia…

“I can’t be two people. I can’t be Oliver Queen and The Arrow and I have to be The Arrow - people are counting on me…” he began, gritting the words out through his teeth.

“That something else they taught you in Assassin School?” Tommy spat out in mock annoyance, and Oliver’s head whipped up, eyes wide.

He saw it then. Tommy knew. He knew it had been him all those years ago in Hong Kong. 

“Of course, I know,” he said, cracking a slow smile. “Ghost, remember? We get let in on a few things…”

“Tommy…”

He watched his friend’s shoulders fall. “I know. You were trying to protect me. But you were so close…”

He was silent for a few moments, and Oliver barely breathed. “You know that’s when I finally gave up; when I finally accepted that you weren’t coming back. After that trip, after hearing those words - someone else halfway around the world telling me that my best friend in life was dead. That’s when I finally believed it.”

Oliver wasn’t expecting the laugh that followed those words, concerned gaze rising to his friend.

“Who knew that the very person I was looking for finally convinced me that he was dead,” he said wryly, a sad smile gracing his lips.

“I’m so sorry…”

“What are you apologizing for?” Tommy blanched as if in pain. “If it was hard for me, I can’t imagining what it was like for you…”

Oliver hung his head, feeling a dull ache form just behind his eyes. “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do...I was so close. After that, I gave up too…”

Heavy silence settled around them until Oliver felt Tommy’s presence beside him, and he turned around, leaning back against the table so they were side by side.

“You deserve to be happy, Oliver,” he finally said slowly. “I’ve never seen you look at someone the way you look at her. And if it’s anything near the way I felt about Laurel...then I know that you can’t run from that. You can’t hide it. It won’t just disappear.”

Slowly, Oliver nodded his head, forcing the words out of his mouth. “I know.”

Tommy sighed, and Oliver wondered how he could do that being a ghost, but decided it wasn’t something worth dwelling on in the moment. Instead, he focused on the empty chair across the room - her chair.

“You told Diggle you didn’t want to die down here. You don’t have to...you can live, Oliver. Having someone to love - someone like Felicity - it’s an incredible thing. I don’t think it makes you weak; I think it gives you the strength you need to keep going and living.”

When Tommy turned to him, he forced his eyes away from her empty chair, and met his friend’s familiar eyes.

“You survived, Oliver. You need to start _living._ ”

Tommy’s words echoed in his ears as he gave him an encouraging smile, and turned to walk away.

He was almost out of sight when Oliver called out to him. “What if I’m too late…”

Tommy turned, just as he reached one of the darker corners of the spacious area. “You aren’t. But you can’t wait forever…Listen to your best friend,” he smiled, his patented Tommy smile before pointing at the green plant next to his bed. “Nice fern,” and then he was gone.

Oliver stared at the space for a long time before he finally moved. He took the stairs two at a time, throwing his jacket over his shoulders.

He didn’t want to die down there. He wanted to start living. And he wanted to do that with her.


End file.
